Published on :
The economic weight of trading multinationals based in Switzerland is estimated at 8% of the Gross Domestic Product by the NGO Public Eye. Much more than the federal authorities recognize. A figure that reflects the growing weight of a sector that is not experiencing the crisis.
Switzerland, a golden place for international commodity traders, is nothing new. But it would seem that the federal authorities are downplaying their economic weight, or at least using figures that are long outdated.
Officially, the value created in the country by trading activities amounted in 2017 to 25 billion Swiss francs, or 3.8% of GDP. And it is this number that is always the reference. However, the Swiss National Bank has since updated this data and estimates that in 2019, 40 billion Swiss francs were generated by so-called transit activities.
In 2021, this figure would have increased again, this time according to estimates by the NGO Public Eye: it would be closer to 60 billion, still in local currency. Traders would therefore weigh 8% of Swiss gross domestic product, twice as much as the figure to which the Swiss Confederation always refers, which is 3.8%.
An advantageous Swiss tax policy
This economic weight of traders has been reinforced by an ever greater diversification of their activity: control of agricultural plantations, exploitation of mines, and logistical expertise. Most of the groups have reinforced their offer, recalls the NGO: the top five agricultural traders in the world operate 1,300 ships, to cite just one example.
At this rate, traders will soon weigh more than the Swiss financial sector, whose weight has been relatively stable overall for ten years – 9.1% of GDP – a sector that is also subject to a supervisory authority. Not regulated by a specific framework, unlike banks, “ trading activities prosper in Switzerland as in the Far West », comments one of the representatives of the NGO.
Public Eye recalls that most traders benefit from substantial tax advantages in the country. A policy that is not in question despite the exceptional profits made by trading companies since 2020.